James Grippando was born and raised in Waukegan Illinois. He served as a law clerk for his fist job after law school to the Hon. Thomas A. Clark at the United Stated Court of Appeals. This was for the eleventh Circuit based in Atlanta. James Grippando has the chance of working on a number of cases that included appeals and death penalties. This experience later gave him a firm grip on writing crime fiction with his first being The Pardon’. Grippando was a trial lawyer from 1984 to 1996 in Miami in a tough case. What many termed as the battle of David vs. Goliath turned him into lead counsel. The battle lasted 7 long years representing the Florida chicken farmers. The case is known to this day as the catalyst that brought serious changes to the $15 billion a year chicken farming industry. Grippando had the opportunity to write a number of articles on a scholarly level. He felt drawn to creative writing in the 1980s. His first work was not published. A case about the impeding arrest of a man that was convicted of murder that wasn’t clear led to The Pardon’. It was in 1994 that he introduced Jack Swyteck as a criminal defense lawyer based in Miami. He was still practicing law when he wrote The Informant’ in 1996.

Grippando then released a string of novels thereafter before embarking again on Jack Swyteck as a series. He left law in 1996 and set on a writing career path that has seen quite a number of master pieces over time. Grippando’s first novel Leap holes’ was for a younger audience. It also became the first ever book to be published by the American Bar Association. He later released Operation Northwoods’ a short story published in a collection of thrillers by Thriller: Stories to keep you up at night’.

He is known for his love of outdoors where he does most of his writing. Grippando writes at his South Florida house and majors in crime fiction, legal and psychological thrillers. He draws most of his inspiration from his time as a criminal lawyer. This creates an accurate account of fiction based works and events that captivate his reader. It is amazing to note that his novels have been translated into 26 languages including Ukrainian, Turkish, Slovakian, Romanian, Portuguese, Korean, Italian, Hungarian, Hebrew, German, English, Dutch, French, Chinese, Croatian, Czech, Bulgarian, Japanese, Spanish, Thai, Norwegian and Latvian. He has also served with the prestigious Boies Schiller & Flexner LLP as counsel since 2004.

The Pardon

As it is with the renowned crime suspense master minds, Grippando doesn’t waste time delving into the dark world of crime with rigorous court sessions. The story centers around jack Swyteck, son to judge harry Swyteck caught in a murder charge. It all begins when jack tries to get off Raul Fernandez a pardon plea but is denied by his father as the judge. This happened two years ago despite jack giving presenting that he had had an encounter with a masked man with sure proof that Raul was innocent. The father denied the plea in the last minute sending Raul to prison. In a twist of events, the same masked man turns his attention to father and son in a bid to have the father send the son to lock away. He sets up a series of traps and situations including murders that put jack on the spot. Eddy Gross is a major suspect in the case but proof withstanding. The man threatens jacks girlfriend alongside her old roommate. The two men realize that the stakes are much higher after Gross is killed. The killer comes up with a diabolical plan that leads both of them at the scene of the murder slashing out their alibi. The two men soon relaize that their earlier suspicions about Gross being the killer were wrong. the then realize that they have no idea who their enemy is. Caught is a deadly trap, jack and his father try to wriggle out of the situation. The killer seems to be a few steps ahead as hell breaks loose for Jack. Every move his dad makes to solve the situation seems to make matters worse for him. In a desperate race for time and the fear of the unknown, jack has to use his instincts and brilliance as a lawyer to catch the man behind the mask before he spends the rest of his life behind bars.

Beyond Suspicion

This jack Swyteck thrillers starts with Jack striding off the courtroom after a great victory for his ex girlfriend Jessie Merril. According to Viatical, Jessie has amytropical lateral sclerosis which meant that she was to die soon. She has subsequently sold to Viatical her three million dollar policy for half the figure. It is later proven that the diagnosis was not true with Jessie having more years to live. Viatical sues Jessie but loses to jack. After a turn of event all through the case, jack realizes that he has been played for a fool. He suspects that the His ex girlfriend and the doctor had scammed Viatical. He later confirms this and takes on Jessie. Jessie has no qualms about telling Jack that she was exerting revenge on him. Things soon catch up to Jessie and she is found dead with her writs slashed in jack’s bathtub. Jack has to explain this to his wife Cindy and prove that he is not the killer. His marriage is already on the rocks and thanks to the new turn of events, ready to break. Jack gets help form His ex-con friend and a few others along the [path of redemption. The killer however seems to have read all his cards ensuring that all the corners that he turns are blind. Some of the questions lingering as you read this novel are, did the Russian Mob kill Jessie? Did jack do it? Did Jessie do it to exert her final blow at Jack? Grippando releases yet another riveting story through the defense attorney and once again sets him up with the dark side. It is jacks fate thanks to his practice of criminal law.

Master of the standalone thriller genre, Shari Lapena, is back. Author of The Couple Next Door and A Stranger in the House, An Unwanted Guest is the latest novel by Shari. It takes place in a cozy mountain lodge in Winter where various people are staying for a romantic getaway. A blizzard cuts off the power and any contact with the outside world so everyone settles in for the long haul. Then a guest dies. And another. Knowing Shari's other books, this should be one we'll be reading late into the night. For more details or to pre-order, visit our Shari Lapena page.

Recommendations

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Featured Series

Our book series of the month is the Will Robie Series by David Baldacci. If you like Mitch Rapp, Jack Reacher, Jason Bourne etc then you'll love the Will Robie series. These are page turners to the max too and Baldacci knows how to keep you going all night long!

Featured Author

Bill Wenham is the author of various book series including The Inspector Charrington Mysteries and the Inspector Bruce Mysteries. He just started writing in his 80s to follow a life long dream. It’s an amazing story and the books he has written are pretty great too – his passion really shines through. Read more about Bills books.

Did You Know…

After graduating from school, Dan Brown then went to Amherst College to obtain a degree in English and Spanish. He graduated in the year of 1986 and then later spent numerous years trying to get himself established as a singer cum songwriter and pianist, but unfortunately was met with very minimal success.